Wireless-service providers very often provide their subscribers with access to packet-data networks such as the Internet via wireless communication devices (WCDs) such as cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, laptop computers, air cards, and the like. In addition, and often for an additional fee, some of these providers allow (and enable) their subscribers to extend this data service via their WCDs to one or more additional devices through a feature often referred to as “tethering” (a.k.a. “phone as modem,” “phone as router,” “mobile hotspot,” “personal hotspot,” etc.).
In a typical arrangement, and using just one additional (“tethered”) device for illustration, the WCD acts as both modem and network-access server (NAS) for the tethered device, and may also act as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server by assigning to the tethered device a local IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.101) on a wireless local-area (e.g., Wi-Fi) network (WLAN) provided by the WCD, which may thereafter receive outbound packets from the tethered device (e.g., a Wi-Fi-enabled tablet) via the WLAN and forward at least the content (payload) of those packets to their addressed destination via the WCD's (e.g., 3 G) data connection to a wireless wide-area (e.g., cellular) network (WWAN). In addition, the WCD may also receive inbound packets addressed to the tethered device from the WWAN and forward at least the content (payload) of those packets to the tethered device via the WLAN.
Such WCDs are often able to facilitate (wired and/or wireless) tethered communication at substantially the same time for multiple tethered devices, which (in addition to tablet computers) could be other WCDs, laptop computers, desktop computers, and/or any other data-communication device(s) capable of establishing and engaging in LAN-based (e.g., WLAN-based) and/or peer-to-peer data communication with the tethering-capable WCD.